KARACHI: Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq said on Sunday that Karachi had been ruined due to the incompetency and apathy of the federal and provincial governments.

Speaking at a local government convention organised by his party’s Karachi chapter, he said that incidents of street crimes were rampant in the metropolis, where broken roads, lack of health, education facilities as well as absence of potable water had made people’s life miserable.

A large number of JI workers, representatives from all walks of life and hundreds of candidates of LG elections attended the convention.

The JI chief said that the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party had “captured the city of lights and other parts of Sindh for the past 14 years”.

“The PPP and other ruling parties have been trying to get the local government elections postponed and this attitude comes as a visible sign of their defeat in the polls,” he said.

Demanding that the government reduce petroleum products’ prices by at least Rs100 per litre, he said that the prices of petroleum products had been decreasing in the international market and the government must pass on its benefit to the people.

He also demanded that the government take solid measures to provide some relief and reduce inflation in the country.

He said that the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) had practically made hostage the politics of the city just to divert the attention of the people from actual issues. “These opposite parties are on the same page when it comes to the slavery of the IMF, FATF laws, the Transgender Act and other issues, the only disagreement between the two parties are on the basis of their monetary and political interests,” he said.

A peaceful Islamic system of governance is the only way forward to make the country peaceful and prosper, he observed.

Speaking on the occasion, JI Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman condemned the PPP government in Sindh for its policy against holding local government elections.

He added that an elected local government set-up was the only way to address the basic and long-standing issues of the people of Karachi.

Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2022